A survivor of the Magdalene laundries has been awarded an undisclosed five-figure settlement after she was forced to work unpaid for almost six years.
Mary Cavner, 80, won her fight for justice after an eight-year legal battle over the time she spent at one of the laundries.
The mother-of-five spent years trying to convince the State that she worked at the Good Shepherd Convent in Co Cork, from the age of 11 after her father's death.
The Government formally apologised to all of the women confined to the institutions in 2013 and set up a redress scheme for the victims.
But Ms Cavner, who now lives in the UK, was denied compensation after authorities claimed she was at St Finbarr's Industrial School, which was not listed as part of this scheme.
She was among a number of women who complained to the Ombudsman.
A report in November 2017 recommended that the scheme be extended to associated and adjoining institutions, which the Government adopted.
The Department of Justice ruled that Ms Cavner is eligible for the redress scheme and awarded her a five-figure settlement.
"This was about holding those who made me stay in that laundry and work throughout my childhood to account"
Her daughter Mandie said: "My mum didn't have a single day of education when she was in the laundry, but we were sent records that showed she had been at school every day for years. She worked from the moment she entered the laundry and didn't stop for almost six years.
"When we said that these records were false they settled the claim, but how many other women were told the same thing and just gave up as they didn't have anyone to fight for them?
"Throughout this process mum has been called a liar and the way these women have been treated is disgusting.
"They took away my mum's childhood and then they treated her like that. It's scandalous."
The Ombudsman, Peter Tyndall, also welcomed the decision by the Department of Justice to pay redress to the 80-year-old Cork woman.
In a statement to RTÉ's News at One programme, he said that Mary Canver and other women who worked in Magdalene laundries had "waited a long time to receive redress".
"I very much welcome the decision of the Department of Justice in relation to Mary's case and in the cases of other women who worked in Magdalene laundries but were resident in adjoining institutions."
Figures published by that Department show that, to date, 61 such women have received rewards.
109 applications have been received from women under the expanded version of the redress scheme which was introduced in May 2018 following Mr Tyndall's criticism of the State's exclusion of adjoining institutions.
Of the remaining 48 such applications, 14 have received offers, outstanding queries remain concerning five and four were deemed incomplete. 23 applicants were rejected and one withdrew from the process.
The Department of Justice statistics also show that a total of just over €29.8m has been paid to 770 applicants since the Magdalene Restorative Justice Ex-Gratia Scheme opened in 2013. That's an average payment of €38,701.
Mary Cavner was born in Cork in 1939 and was made a ward of court in 1951 following her father's death.
She spent five years and ten months at the Catholic-run workhouse where she looked after the babies of so-called "fallen women", cleaned and worked in the laundries.
In the evenings she would serve the nuns their dinner, before her day ended at 10pm.
She suffered from hunger and malnourishment and received no education from the time she arrived at the convent until she left just before she was 18.
Ms Cavner said: "They held me there and worked me until I was nearly 18. We weren't allowed to talk or associate with anybody else which affected me throughout my life.
"To then be told that I was lying was devastating. I had never mentioned what happened to me to my husband or my children, so it took all of my courage to admit what I had been through and then they called me a liar.
"My experience in the laundry left me unable to communicate properly. I have had really low points as they have made me live this again and to be accused of not telling the truth made me feel rejected.
"I am speaking out as I want to tell all of the women who went through this but don't have a voice to stand up and fight.
"This was never about getting compensation as whatever money they had given me it wouldn't give me my lost childhood back.
"This was about holding those who made me stay in that laundry and work throughout my childhood to account."
